Banff/Lake Louise – temps and weather mid-September?

[Jeff McWilliams]

Heading to Banff/Lake Louise area Sept 7th for 11 days.  2 days spent up near the Athabasca Glacier duing the guided tour and a day hike up Wilcox peak.  1 day near Lake Louise day hiking, and then 6 spent backpacking into Assiniboine Provincial Park.

2-year historical temperature data for Banff looks all over the place.  Lake Magog is only around 7,000 feet, but this is quite a bit further north that I’ve been.

Can anyone relay first hand experience?  Will I freeze in a 20 degree quilt?  I can add some down pants and a warmer down layer, like an EB/First Ascent Downlight hooded jacket

Thanks

[Gary D]

Jeff. I would suggest bringing the down pants and EB jacket to supplement the quilt , especially for the six days in the Assiniboine area. At 7000 feet in that area , you are on the edge of the subalpine zone  You may be able to get by without ,but carrying the extra weight is worth it IMO. Weather can be variable that time of year. You may have temperatures slightly above freezing , but I would think you are more likely to encounter night time temperatures from 20-30 F. Daytime temperatures could range from just above freezing to as high as 50-60 F. I have encountered temperatures of 10F in mid September at that elevation (central Rockies in Lake Louise area) , but that would not be the norm. 15F would be a cold night.

In the area around Lake Louise temperatures could be quite warm during the day and likely just below freezing at night.

The Icefields area will be a few degrees cooler. You could have snow at any of the locations during that time frame but it is unlikely it would stick around for more than a day or so.

Banff townsite historical weather would not be representative of the conditions you would encounter in the Assiniboine and Icefields area.  It could be as warm as 70-75 F in Banff townsite for daytime highs that time of year.

 

[Nick Volker]

Will be up there Sept 5 – 17. Doing the berg lake trail, skyline trail, then some day hikes. Really hoping for some decent weather!

[Jeff McWilliams]

Cool, Nick!  I was really torn between Berg Lake and Assiniboine.  I guess I’ll have to go back and do that one some time in the future.

Have fun!

 

[Pierre Descoteaux]

I would not venture in the Rockies without an insulated hooded jacket! The pants may sound over kill but the warmth will be nice around camp early morning and later during the evening. If they are light I’d bring them. The weather really is unpredictable and day temps are much higher than nights.

fwiw I’ve had snow in August on the Parkway.

Have a great trip!

[Justin Lafrance]

The weather can certainly be variable. September can be wonderfully pleasant with warm sunny days but you can also encounter winter-like conditions. Friends hiking in Assiniboine a few years ago woke up to 3 feet of snow with an overnight low of -20C! Generally, above 2000m in the Canadian Rockies, all bets are off.

[Jeff McWilliams]

Thanks for all the input, everyone.  I have several different thicknesses of base layer and a couple different insulating mid-layer jackets to choose from, and I’m still watching to see how the weather plays out.

I fly out on Wednesday and will probably take a couple choices with me, as we are car camping until the 12th when we hit the trail.  We’ll be in a hostel in Banff on the 11th, so I’ll study the weather forecast and make my final packing decisions that night.

So far, it’s looking like on and off rain for next week.

 

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